Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority face the prospect of having to serve
in the armed forces for the first time after a law exempting them from the
draft lapsed yesterday .

With many ultra-Orthodox Jews saying they would rather go to prison than be conscripted, the Israeli government was forced to adopt time-buying tactics to find a solution to an issue that has deeply divided the state.

Abiding by a supreme court ruling, Ehud Barak, the defence minister ordered the army to prepare for a universal draft of ultra-Orthodox men.

But by giving his generals a month to craft a recruitment plan he effectively secured time for Israel’s ruling coalition to cobble together a compromise – one that many secular Jews fear will continue to exempt most ultra-Orthodox men.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, insisted that the draft plan was genuine and would lead to members of the minority being forcibly enrolled into the armed forces for the first time.

“Starting tomorrow, there’s a new law about equal service,” he said. “The Israeli military will decide whom to draft, how many to draft – and it will draft.”

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Mr Netanyahu’s comments seemed designed to protect himself from criticism that he has pandered to the ultra-Orthodox community’s powerful leadership and many Israelis will doubt his sincerity.

Two proposals by centrist and secular-nationalist parties in his ruling coalition that would have extended the draft were voted down last month, leading to the withdrawal of Kadima, the biggest party in the Israeli parliament, from the government.

Observers say it is likely that new legislation will eventually be agreed to exempt most ultra-Orthodox men from army service. Leaders of the community said they were convinced that no serious attempts to conscript the minority will be made till then.

“The Israeli military is not ready, won’t be ready and doesn’t want to be ready,” said Meir Porush, an ultra-Orthodox member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset.